Casual visitors to renaissance faires and cultural celebrations may not always realize it, but competitive jousting is real, and it’s serious.

“Riding the horse is hard enough, then you put a hundred pounds of armor on and you’ve got to balance yourself going 30 miles an hour while looking through a quarter-inch eye slot, trying to put a 10-foot lance right on the button. It’s tough, man,” said Charlie Andrews, a world-renowned jouster who recently competed at the Sherwood Forest Faire.

Jousts at renaissance fairs often are theatrically staged.

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Eddie Rigney (left) of the Knights of Valour, clashes with Charlie Andrews (right) of the Knights of Mayhem, during a jousting tournament at Sherwood Forest Faire in McDade, Feb. 28, 2015. Photo by Joshua Trudell/For the Express-News less

Eddie Rigney (left) of the Knights of Valour, clashes with Charlie Andrews (right) of the Knights of Mayhem, during a jousting tournament at Sherwood Forest Faire in McDade, Feb. 28, 2015. Photo by Joshua ... more

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Joshua Warren crashes to the ground after being hit during a joust at the Sherwood Forest Faire in McDade, Feb. 28, 2015. Photo by Joshua Trudell/For the Express-News

Joshua Warren crashes to the ground after being hit during a joust at the Sherwood Forest Faire in McDade, Feb. 28, 2015. Photo by Joshua Trudell/For the Express-News

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The dents and scratchs from many jousts are visible on the armor of Charlie Andrews, leader of the Knights of Mayhem. St. Andrews was competing in a jousting tournament at Sherwood Forest Faire in McDade Feb. 28, 2015. Photo by Joshua Trudell/For the Express-News less

The dents and scratchs from many jousts are visible on the armor of Charlie Andrews, leader of the Knights of Mayhem. St. Andrews was competing in a jousting tournament at Sherwood Forest Faire in McDade Feb. ... more

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Joshua Warren (left), representing the Sherwood Knights Academy, faces off against Charlie Andrews (right), of the Knights of Mayhem, during a jousting tournament at Sherwood Forest Faire in McDade, Feb. 28, 2015. Photo by Joshua Trudell/For the Express-News less

Joshua Warren (left), representing the Sherwood Knights Academy, faces off against Charlie Andrews (right), of the Knights of Mayhem, during a jousting tournament at Sherwood Forest Faire in McDade, Feb. 28, ... more

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Shards of broken lances fly as jousters compete during a tourrnament at the Sherwood Forest Faire in McDade, Feb 28, 2015. Photo by Joshua Trudell/For the Express-News

Shards of broken lances fly as jousters compete during a tourrnament at the Sherwood Forest Faire in McDade, Feb 28, 2015. Photo by Joshua Trudell/For the Express-News

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Harry Bouchard (left), of the New Riders of the Golden Age, squares off against Joshua Warren (right), of the Sherwood Knights Academy, during a jousting tournament at the Sherwood Forest Faire in McDade, Feb. 28, 2015. Photo by Joshua Trudell/For the Express-News less

Harry Bouchard (left), of the New Riders of the Golden Age, squares off against Joshua Warren (right), of the Sherwood Knights Academy, during a jousting tournament at the Sherwood Forest Faire in McDade, Feb. ... more

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Joshua Warren from the Sherwood Knights Academy begins to tumble off his horse after being hit during a joust at Sherwood Forest Faire in McDade, Feb. 28, 2015. That's Warren's lance in the picture - it spun away after contact. Photo by Joshua Trudell/For the Express-News. less

Joshua Warren from the Sherwood Knights Academy begins to tumble off his horse after being hit during a joust at Sherwood Forest Faire in McDade, Feb. 28, 2015. That's Warren's lance in the picture - it spun ... more

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Harry Bouchard (left), of the New Riders of the Golden Age, jousts against Eddie Rigney from the Knights of Valour during a jousting tournament at the Sherwood Forest Faire in McDade, Feb. 28, 2015. Photo by Joshua Trudell/For the Express-News less

Harry Bouchard (left), of the New Riders of the Golden Age, jousts against Eddie Rigney from the Knights of Valour during a jousting tournament at the Sherwood Forest Faire in McDade, Feb. 28, 2015. Photo by ... more

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Joshua Warren accepts a favor from his wife, Amber, before going out to joust at the Sherwood Forest Faire, Feb. 28, 2015. Amber Warren was serving as one of Joshua Warren's squires during the tournament. Photo by Joshua Trudell/For the Express-News less

Joshua Warren accepts a favor from his wife, Amber, before going out to joust at the Sherwood Forest Faire, Feb. 28, 2015. Amber Warren was serving as one of Joshua Warren's squires during the tournament. Photo ... more

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Mark Desmond of the New Riders of the Golden Age completes a pass during a jousting tournament at Sherwood Forest Faire in McDade, Feb. 28, 2015. Photo by Joshua Trudell/For the Express-News

Mark Desmond of the New Riders of the Golden Age completes a pass during a jousting tournament at Sherwood Forest Faire in McDade, Feb. 28, 2015. Photo by Joshua Trudell/For the Express-News

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Charlie Andrews of the Knights of Mayhem lies on the ground after being dehorsed during a joust at Sherwood Forest Faire in McDade on Feb. 28, 2015. Andrews also dehorsed his opponent.

Charlie Andrews of the Knights of Mayhem lies on the ground after being dehorsed during a joust at Sherwood Forest Faire in McDade on Feb. 28, 2015. Andrews also dehorsed his opponent.

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David Schade of the New Riders of the Golden Age gets his helm removed after a match during a jousting tournament at Sherwood Forest Faire in McDade, Feb. 28, 2015. Photo by Joshua Trudell/For the Express-News

David Schade of the New Riders of the Golden Age gets his helm removed after a match during a jousting tournament at Sherwood Forest Faire in McDade, Feb. 28, 2015. Photo by Joshua Trudell/For the Express-News

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Dustin Stephens of Tyler sits astride his horse Sampson during a jousting tournament at Sherwood Forest Faire in McDade, Feb. 28. 2015. Stephens said he has been jousting for thirty years. Photo by Joshua Trudell/For the Express-News less

Dustin Stephens of Tyler sits astride his horse Sampson during a jousting tournament at Sherwood Forest Faire in McDade, Feb. 28. 2015. Stephens said he has been jousting for thirty years. Photo by Joshua ... more

Competitive jousting is real — and really serious

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Sherwood Forest, which runs through March about 110 miles northeast of San Antonio, holds full-contact jousts every weekend with members of the New Riders of the Golden Age. This year, it also has two competitive jousting events with members of other troupes.

One took place at the end of February, and the next is scheduled for March 28 and 29. There are a handful of others in Texas this year, including one in Austin from April 24 to 26.

When jousting is done competitively, there are levels ranging “from flag football to the NFL,” said Joshua Warren, the resident professional knight at Sherwood.

The less-dangerous jousting competitions use lances with balsa tips that are designed to break more easily than solid wood lances. The jousting at Sherwood Forest uses solid pine lances.

“Usually I like doing balsa (tipped) lances, with a shaped lance and a smaller shield because you get more mobility and I think it’s more competitive,” said Dustin Stephens, a 30-year jousting veteran.

For jousters, one thing stands out when it comes time to prepare for combat — their horse.

“Our day starts with the horse and ends with the horse,” Warren said. “If you hit someone in the crotch or in the head, you’re disqualified. If you hit someone’s horse, you’re never going to ride anywhere ever again.”

“The horses are our first priority,” he added. “We are all crazy — we want to do this. We request that they do this with us. We do a lot of training and preparation in making them feel comfortable in what we do.”

Warren runs the Sherwood Knights Academy. The camp for would-be knights includes training minds and bodies to reach the ideals of knighthood — Renaissance men who can be politicians, philosophers and warriors. The camp runs year-round, though Warren said he isn’t accepting new students while the fair is ongoing.

Part of the camp’s lessons include teaching jousting. It’s no small commitment, though. Warren estimated it would take two years of full-time training for a beginner to be able to joust safely.

“You might be ready in less than two years, but I can’t guarantee you’re not going to get out there and forget something or make a mistake,” he said.

Training for any would-be jouster includes building communication with his horse, which can take weeks or months.

“I’ll breathe in his face, he’ll breathe in my face, and we’ll lean against one another,” said Stephens, describing part of his three-week process of training a horse. “I’ll just go out and sit on his back and ride around, doing whatever he wants to do, for about eight hours or so.”

Percherons, Brabants and Belgians and other large draft breeds are some of the most popular types of horses because they can carry the nearly 200 pounds of gear each knight carries during full-contact jousting, including armor, a great guard or shield and a lance.

They also are generally more placid, which is important in the lists — the area where the jousts are held.

Watching the jousts often can be like watching a football game — cheers erupt for an unhorsing, or the rare double unhorsing. Afterward, the jousters often find people coming up and asking questions about it.

“Everyone wants to try it, but it’s kind of like (mixed martial arts) — everyone wants to try it until they get punched in the face,” said Andrews, one of the jousters who competed at Sherwood Forest. “Everyone wants to be a jouster until they get knocked off their horse or take that first big hit.”

Taking that first big hit didn’t stop Elizabeth Jones from getting back on her horse. She got her first hit at a tournament at Sherwood two years ago.

“It was terrifying and wonderful at the same time,” she said. “I got completely blown off my horse, jumped back up and was screaming at them to let me back on, I was so mad.”

Colin Corcoran is a knight in training with New Riders of the Golden Age, one of several professional jousting troupes that tour the country. He said the first hit was the biggest shock to his system for becoming a jouster.

“I knew it was coming, but I didn’t know what it would feel like. It was a bizarre feeling,” he said. “One second you’ve got the horse underneath you. The next you feel weightless, and then the ground is rushing up at your face.”

A direct hit may separate a knight from his horse, but it doesn’t necessarily leave a mark.

“When you get hit in the chest in the right spot, the armor does such a good job that I don’t ever have bruising on my chest,” Corcoran said. “The bruising that I get is from when I hit the ground.”

As in most equestrian sports, there is no difference between male and female competitors in jousting. In February, an Australian woman, Sarah Hay, won an international jousting competition in New Zealand.

Jones said she has been riding since she was about 6 in events ranging from western to hunter jumpers, and that jousting is safer than many people think.

“The couple times that I have been hurt, it’s been freak accidents,” she said.

Joshua Trudell is a freelance writer and photographer. He can be reached at josh@joshtrudell.com